The present invention relates to a folding package and, more particularly, to a substantially flat folding closable package having a pressure-sensitive hanging tab to facilitate hanging the package on a suitable support member.
Apparel packaging, particularly with hosiery products, has traditionally been in the form of boxes or flat hosiery package designed to display the garment which is ultimately enclosed in cellophane or a suitable plastic material. Such package is usually displayed within specially designed counters or in free-standing displays.
Other product display procedures involve hanging the garment on a rack or hanger with no enclosure so that the consumer can touch the garment and examine it closely. While this technique is acceptable in a number of circumstances, it is not desirable to leave open a hosiery package so that the consumer touches the actual fabric of the garment. More often, samples of the fabric of the garment are positioned on the display for close consumer examination.
There is a desire and need to display flat packaging in a more observable manner and to remove it from the clutter of the counter that often occurs when consumers constantly pick up and replace packaged garments for close inspection. Hanging flat hosiery packages on a display requires some form of hanging device to be utilized with the package that will engage a support member on the display and maintain the package in the desired location. Hanging tabs that are integral cut-outs or extensions of a cardboard package are often used for this purpose. However, customers often remove flat hosiery packages from a display for closer inspection and rehang the packages onto a support member. Repeated removal and rehanging causes wear on cardboard-type hanging tabs, resulting in damage to the hanging tab and package. Indeed, a single sufficiently rigorous pull of a package from a display support member can tear a cardboard hanging tab from a package. As such, cardboard-type hanging tabs may not provide the strength or flexibility of material or construction to allow repeated removal and replacement on display support members. Thus, there is a perceived need for a hanging hosiery package that provides a stronger, more durable, and more flexible hanging element for repeated removal and hanging on a display support member. There is also a need for a hanging hosiery package having a stronger, more durable, and more flexible hanging element that is inexpensive to manufacture and use. It is to these perceived needs that the present invention is directed.
The foldable package of the present invention includes a shell having a front panel, first and second side panels foldably connected to the front panel, a bottom panel foldably connected to the front panel, and a top panel foldably connected to the front panel. The front and top panels have a slot cut in a portion between the two panels. The foldable package of the present invention further includes a pressure-sensitive hanging element adapted to be adhesively attached to the package. The hanging element is preferably plastic. When the hanging element is adhesively attached to the front panel and the top panel is folded down against the front panel, the hanging element extends through the slot and above the package to facilitate hanging the package. The first and second side panels each have a secondary fold portion positioned between the front panel and the first and side panels to provide a package thickness dimension. The package is particularly useful in holding for display knitting hosiery products, such as ladies"" fine denier fashion hosiery.
An advantage of the present invention is that it provides an apparel package having a pressure-sensitive hanging tab that will permit the package to be suspended from a support member.
Another advantage of the present invention is that it provides a package of the type described wherein the pressure-sensitive hanging tab is sufficiently strong, durable, and flexible to accommodate repeated removal and hanging on a display support member.
Another advantage of the present invention is that it provides a package of the type described having secondary fold portions to provide a package thickness dimension.
Another advantage of the present invention is that it provides a package of the type described that reliably retains a knitted hosiery product positioned within the fold package.
Still another advantage of the present invention is that it provides a package of the type described, including a top panel, that protects contents of the package, such as fine denier hosiery products, from exposure to soiling during display and handling.
Still another advantage of the present invention is that it provides a package of the type described having a stronger, more durable, and more flexible hanging element and that is relatively inexpensive to manufacture and use.
Thus, there has been outlined in summary form the more important features of the invention in order that the detailed description that follows may be better understood and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are obviously additional features of the invention that will be described hereinafter which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto. It is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and to the arrangement of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways.
It is also to be understood that the phraseology and terminology herein are for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting in any respect. Those skilled in the art will appreciate the concept upon which this disclosure is based and that it may readily be utilized as a basis for designing of the structures, methods, and systems for carrying out the several purposes of the present invention It is also to be understood that the abstract is neither intended to define the invention of the application, which is measured by its claims, nor to limit its scope in any way.
This summary and these objectives of the invention, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the invention, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure. For a better understanding of the invention, its operating advantages, and the specific objects obtained by its use, reference should be made to the accompanying drawings and descriptive matter in which like characters of reference designate like parts throughout the several views.